Following the hack of the U.S. Central Command’s primary Twitter and YouTube accounts on January 12 by a group claiming to be aligned with the Islamic State extremist group, the U.S. General Services Administration is releasing a handbook on preventing cyber vandalism.

Justin Herman, the GSA’s federal social media program lead, said that members of the SocialGov community – a group of almost 900 digital engagement managers from various government agencies – crowd sourced a set of guidelines to boost security and prevent hacking. The group sought advice from social networks like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, and the document they developed was posted online Tuesday, titled the Social Media Cyber-Vandalism Toolkit. Read More »

But over the past several days, Americans began to reassert their inalienable rights, even for the most banal forms of creative self-expression. First, a number of leading figures in the entertainment industry, including George Clooney and Jimmy Kimmel, criticized Sony’s decision. Republican Sen. David Vitter of Louisiana called for a screening of the movie at the White House, and Democratic Rep. Brad Sherman suggested showing it on Capitol Hill. Several independent theaters announced Tuesday that they would show the movie on Christmas Day. Read More »

Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew said Sunday that bank executives are taking the threat from computer hackers “seriously” and cautioned that attacks can come from lone actors, not just organized groups or government entities.

The fake news website allegedly used as cover by Iran-based hackers was also a serial plagiarizer, copying articles from such sources as BBC, Reuters and the Associated Press but putting its own name on them.

Newsonair.org, the website that cybersecurity firm iSight Partners fingered as the Tehran-based fake news outlet in a report out Thursday, doesn’t appear to contain much if any original news, and iSight said it “plagiarizes content from other legitimate news sources.” Indeed, many stories currently on its home page are credited to “NOA” but are actually from other outlets. Read More »

In a roundtable discussion, Washington Bureau Chief Jerry Seib and WSJ reporters Reid J. Epstein, Carol E. Lee and Devlin Barrett explore what the latest primaries tell us about the 2014 midterms; why the U.S. named five accused Chinese Army hackers, essentially charging China with cyberespionage; and why President Barack Obama addressed the Veterans Affairs health scandal now. They also look ahead to the president’s big foreign-policy statement at West Point next week. Read More »

Protesters taking part in the day-long Million Mask March made their way around Washington Tuesday, at one point chanting “Whose Street? Our Street!” Many wore the Guy Fawkes mask from “V for Vendetta” and carried the yellow “Don’t Tread on Me” Gadsden Flag popular with tea party activists.

Similar marches were held in cities around the globe spearheaded by the hacking organization Anonymous to protest government corruption. In an online video, the organization urged people to “stand tall with a fellow human against worldwide government corruption and tyranny.” The march coincided with Guy Fawkes Day, commemorating the failed plot to blow up England’s House of Lords in 1605 … Read More »

WASHINGTON — Reports that U.S. intelligence agencies may have monitored the personal cellphone of German Chancellor Angela Merkel may have roiled Berlin, but security experts in Washington are barely batting an eye.

Experts contacted by the Journal agreed that the vulnerability of mobile devices makes them ripe targets for hackers and foreign spies, who wouldn’t need the cooperation of a user’s wireless provider to eavesdrop on their calls. Read More »

The Syrian Electronic Army, which has hacked a series of websites, posted a letter on the Marines.com website arguing the Syrian government is “fighting a vile common enemy.”

“The Syrian army should be your ally not your enemy,” the letter read. “Refuse your orders and concentrate on the real reason every soldier joins their military, to defend their homeland. You’re more than welcome to fight alongside our army rather than against it.”… Read More »

The U.S. Department of Energy notified employees via an email Wednesday that hackers gained personal information, such as names and Social Security numbers, of 14,000 current and former agency employees as the result of a hack that occurred in late July. This is the second attack this year that involved a breach of employee data.

While the agency said in its memo that no classified data was compromised or targeted, obtaining personally identifiable information is one way that computer hackers use to gain access to computer systems containing critical assets. A spokesman for the DOE confirmed that it had sent the memo on Wednesday. Cyber attackers were able to access the information by hacking into a human resources system which included information such a payroll data, according to a person familiar with the matter… Read More »

About Washington Wire

Washington Wire is one of the oldest standing features in American journalism. Since the Wire launched on Sept. 20, 1940, the Journal has offered readers an informal look at the capital. Now online, the Wire provides a succession of glimpses at what’s happening behind hot stories and warnings of what to watch for in the days ahead. The Wire is led by Reid J. Epstein, with contributions from the rest of the bureau. Washington Wire now also includes Think Tank, our home for outside analysis from policy and political thinkers.